In The Grip Of The World
by xxIAmTheSkyxx
Summary: Three years have passed, but Fiore is still firmly in the grip of the devastation that had come down upon them back then. While the kingdom struggles to get back on its feet, a new threat emerges, unbeknownst to anyone...so now, history is doomed to repeat itself through seemingly impossible means. Sequel to In The Shadow Of Summer; rated T for violence and language. SPOILER ALERT.
1. Intro: In The Grip Of The World

_**NOTE: STOP READING RIGHT NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE PREVIOUS ENTRY**_** In The Shadow Of Summer****.**_** THIS ENTIRE STORY IS A MASSIVE SPOILER TO THE ENTIRE PREVIOUS**_**_ ENTRY, WHICH IS _ALSO_ CHOCK-FULL OF SPOILERS_****.**_** IF YOU STILL WANT TO FOLLOW THIS STORY, READ THE PREVIOUS ENTRY FIRST.**__  
_

_Sorry. I couldn't. I couldn't stay away from this story any longer than I have. It's been killing me. I have to relieve myself of some of that agony…so here it is. The first entry into the sequel to my first-ever and popular Fairy Tail story, _In The Shadow Of Summer_._

_Okay, that's out of the way. Tally-ho we go._

_**AGAIN, EVERYTHING FROM HERE ON IS ONE HUGE SPOILER. THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING, ALL YOU NEWCOMERS.**_

_…__Oh, and Merry Christmas!_

**Introduction: In The Grip Of The World**

_You are nothing._

_Smoke above. Fire below._

_You will suffer in-between._

_For upsetting the balance._

_You, human, the one that has served as host to Life and Death, shall face your fate._

_Relinquish the payment that is due. Accept the judgment you deserve._

_You will have no rest._

_For you have disrupted me._

* * *

I woke up screaming again.

Sweat beaded my brow, and my chest threatened to explode. I breathed heavily in exertion as I bolted upright into a sitting position, ignoring the agonizing aches and pains all over my body. When I had gathered enough sense to realize that it was still dark, the night silent save for the chirping of crickets and hooting of owls, and empty aside from the trees of the forest and the stars of the skies twinkling innocently in the vast canvas of black, I exhaled sharply and grasped my chest tightly—immediately my palm was soaked in blood. I could still feel the wound. It was the only one that just refused to disappear. It was a reminder—a cruel reminder of all the hell that I was paying for now.

"Again with that dream…and that voice…" I growled to myself, gritting my teeth in frustration as I narrowed my eyes into a glower at nothing. "Goddamn it…I didn't ask for _this_…!"

Wind gusted through the trees surrounding me, cutting right through my clothes and chilling me right down to the bone. It ruffled my hair and stung my eyes, forcing them shut. I turned my glare to the skies once the winds subsided somewhat, overly tempted to shout to the heavens and curse my luck, but I kept my mouth shut. The hand I was gripping my heart with dropped to my side as my other hand rose and took hold of my forehead in an attempt to ease the throbbing.

"I know I deserve this, okay?" I mumbled, massaging my temples. "But I'm not asking for much here. I just want to rest. That's all…just that one thing."

I knew it was fruitless, but I couldn't help asking anyway. I was being punished for my crimes. That much was fact. And I'd told myself that I'd take on the consequences, no matter how grueling. That was also fact. Asking for some leeway after jumping into something that I'd known was not going to be merciful in any way would have been just redundant.

But I was getting seriously tired. I hadn't expected this. I hadn't expected to be _here_ again. I wasn't even sure how it had happened—one moment I was gone, but then…just like that, I was back. And the world was now holding me to my words. Let that be a warning to you to watch what comes out of your mouth. You never know who—or what—is listening.

"It's been like this for three years already…" I said to myself. "About a billion more to go."

_…Looks like someone's in a bad mood._

A tick went in my forehead, and I scoffed at the sound of the new voice. "Great, it's you," I grumbled. "Just drop it on me; what horrible thing will happen to me now?"

_Well, it's…something unprecedented. That time—it's drawing near again, in mere hours._

My heart sunk to the soles of my feet. I hadn't been ready for that. "Already?" I whispered, my chest tight in panic. "That can't be—it's too soon for that to—"

_**He speaks the truth.**_ A second voice. _**So rest yourself while you still can.**_

My jaw automatically tightened at the casual suggestion. _"Rest", it says_,I thought angrily. _Like hell I'm able to actually rest anymore._

"Yeah, sure," I griped aloud as I laid back down slowly, trying to fend off the impending dread. "Now let's think about who got me into this mess in the first place."

_**What; do you want me to give some kind of an excuse?**_

"At least be grateful that I felt sorry enough for you to let you stick around at all." I groaned. "Know what; just forget it. It doesn't matter." I paused for a minute before continuing, "So…how long this time?"

_That… _He hesitated in a way that made me think _oh crap _as he finished his thought with,_ It's odd, but…it's not entirely clear._

I bit my lip. That wasn't a good sign. "What does that mean? Doesn't this usually last only for a set number of days? That's the way it's been up until now."

_**Normally, yes. However, we don't know how long this phase will last…but it will definitely be longer than your previous phases.**_

I pursed my lips. "Just perfect…"

_**Try to look on the bright side of this. We can at least tell you that you won't be headed to 'that' place.**_

Well…that made feel the tiniest bit better about this bad news. "So…it's anywhere but there, huh? Nothing specific?"

_Unfortunately…for you, at least._

I exhaled sharply as I tried to keep my resurging impatience in check. "Seriously, would it really kill you to stop being an ass for at least five minutes?"

_**It's not like that ingrate can help it**_, it grumbled. _**If you've forgotten, he **_**was**_** born from your soul, boy.**_

"Oh, yeah; it was _totally_ all my fault. The idiot that possessed me and ripped out most of my soul and created this guy _embodying_ the term 'complete jerk'—_on purpose_, let me remind you—after forcing me to murder millions of people has no responsibility for him. Great. I guess logic flat-out died in the last three years." I scoffed and rolled onto my side with some difficulty, being stiff from my body's constant soreness. "You're both assholes. Now shut up and let me get some of this thing called _rest_ before then, if you don't mind."

Then I shut my eyes, bracing myself for the incoming wave of pain as my still-fresh scars rapidly healed in preparation for my next phase.

* * *

I'm guessing some of you are late to the party. Trust me; you didn't miss much.

…Unless you actually wanted to see me and my friends get our minds utterly screwed over and our asses completely kicked by Life and Death itself and wanted to see me dead, or you're just sadistic like that, or severely wanted a case of utter depression or something. Then I'd say that you've missed a lot.

Except I'm not dead. Not anymore, anyway.

…Yeah, it's a long story, but I'll just say that I'm being punished because of guilt by association. Let's go with that.

In any case, what you saw right there was just a small (and peaceful) glimpse of what my "life" has been like for the past three years, and will continue to be like for a long time. Long story short, about three years ago I got possessed by some malevolent entity, got tortured and abused a lot (in more ways than one) by said entity, got skewered in the heart, and survived it. Initially. Then some other shenanigans with the personifications of Life and Death happened…then I died. Then I came back…somehow…only to be tortured again.

Yeah, my entire existence has been nothing but a growing of happy sunshine and rainbows since then. Don't bother saying you're jealous. 'Cause I know you're not.

Now, there's a good reason I stopped where I did—it's because I don't want to talk about what happens during those "phases". To be honest, I'm not entirely sure myself—I'm sort of half-blanked out during them—but I know for sure that it's something pretty unpleasant, judging by the new scars on my body and horrified looks my way that I'm left with every time it's over. If you want details, you're not getting them from me. I just…yeah, no.

…You might have noticed that I said "new scars", not "more scars"…which probably would make more sense if I wasn't in a situation like mine, but that's not what I'm getting at here. The reason I say that is because once I get those "new" scars, they _stay _new—as in, they stay fresh and don't heal at all—until my next phase comes around. And trust me; it hurts like hell. It's the little nicks that sting the most.

And I don't know if I'm grateful for this or not, but remember when I said that I got skewered in the heart and initially survived before dying to it? Yeah, that knife wound never goes away, no matter how many of these phases I go through. It's really hard walking around with a gaping wound in your chest that most normal people would die of because, y'know, it hurts a lot. (Plus you look like a freaking nutcase dripping blood from your chest everywhere you go.) The bleeding never stops, the hole in my heart perpetually stays open, and I have to deal with the pain every damn day (I mean, I'm kind of getting used to the constant pain by this point, but that doesn't mean I have to like it). I would probably mind these phases less if it meant my heart got healed in the same process as my scars, but no; of course I couldn't get off that easy. 'Cause Life is an ass, and I hate his guts.

Oh, yeah; forgot to mention that—those personifications of Life and Death that I mentioned earlier happen to hang around in my heart. Yeah, in the damaged one. (I don't know how that works, either.) It's an even longer story how they ended up in there, but all you need to know is that they're both enormous pricks, I'm eternally stuck with them, and I hate them both. Especially Life—even though the reason I was even in this situation was mostly Death's fault. Life was the one that let it happen. So yeah; screw him.

With all this going on, it's easy for someone to say something like, "Man, that sucks for you" or "You have my condolences" or something else that invokes sympathy. And I would tell them to save that sympathy, 'cause I neither want nor need it. Sympathy wasn't going to make my punishment any easier to deal with.

…So, while I'm telling you all this, what's going on behind the scenes? I'll be honest with you—I have no clue. I told you; I'm in the middle of one of my phases right now, and I don't know specifically what happens during them. And to be frank, I don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss, guys. Ignorance. Is. _Bliss_. Take my word for it.

Anyway, this is all that I feel I can say on my predicament without crossing some lines. Any more of that and…man, I don't even want to think about what'll happen then.

I'm just gonna hope that once this phase is over, I'll be left with fewer scars than last time.

* * *

_Well…yeah. That's my decision._

_(…Don't kill me, please. It's Christmas.)_

_Thank you for reading, you guys! How do you like it? Anything I can improve on? Any random thoughts? Please let me know!_

_Whoo, it feels awesome to be back in this series (can I call it a series even with only two entries?), no matter how much the first entry completely tortured me with how dark it was. I'm a sadomasochistic writer; I really am. ^^; I know this one is super short (and one-of-a-kind, so relax), but the upcoming chapters will be longer; I promise. I'm still working out the kinks in the plot. ;)_

_And if you can review, that would be amazing of you to do. Reviews, good or bad, give me the motivation I need to continue writing. That's what got me through the last story—and believe me; I probably would've chickened out halfway through if not for the reviews I got for that one. ^^;_

_Again, thank you so much for reading! The next update will happen…the next time my brain refuses to leave me alone on it. So it depends! See you then, everybody!_


	2. Circles of Blood

_Hey, the first chapter's finally here after over THREE MONTHS! XD Man, this story has made a liar out of me. I think it was taunting me. Yeah, this series is a taunting asshole. I want to give it the metaphorical finger, but I feel like that'd be stooping to its level. So I won't. Take that, story! HA!_

…

…_Why are you looking at me like that. I'm totally sane. I swear. ._._

**Ch. 1: Circles of Blood**

**Lucy**

"Baby steps," I muttered to myself. "Take it slow, Lucy…take it slow…no rushing."

I breathed in deeply, held it, and exhaled in an effort to relax as I walked, my steps slow but deliberate. _Everything is good_, I told myself. _The weather is perfect, the townspeople are upbeat and willing to not hate us, and repairs for Magnolia are going nicely. Nothing to worry about._

Today was going to be a fruitful day. I was going to make it one.

"Hey, Lucy," Happy spoke up as he scuttled along next to me. "Why are we going so early? Is it a special occasion or something?"

I felt my lips part in a small smile at his question. "No, nothing special. I just felt like going a bit earlier this time."

"Really?"

"Yep." I stared down at him and grinned. "Though no one said that you had to come with me. You could've gone on your own time."

"Well…yeah, I know," he said, turning his gaze to the cobblestone. "It just feels better when I go with you."

I could hear his voice break slightly, and I immediately regretted teasing him. I scooped him up into my arms without warning and held him close as if he was a baby, surprising him.

"Thanks, Happy," I said, gently stroking his head. "Sorry. That wasn't very nice of me, huh?"

"Nope. That was really mean." His face had buried itself in my bare shoulder, but it felt more like a snuggle than an attempt to hurt me. "But it's okay. 'Cause you're Lucy. So I forgive you."

"Can't really tell if you're teasing me there or not." I set him back down onto the ground. He looked significantly less depressed. "Feel better now? Ready to keep going?"

Happy nodded and raised a paw as he replied with a smile, "Aye!"

A giggle escaped me in spite of myself at his jubilant reply. "Good to hear." I then turned my gaze to the towering visage of the grand Kardia Cathedral a fair distance away, which had been one of the first structures in the city to be completely restored to its former glory.

"Okay, then," I said. "Let's go pay Natsu a visit."

* * *

Three years.

That felt like an impossibly long amount of time to have passed after everything that had happened. It almost felt like a dream, like it wasn't real, but I knew better than to lose myself in that fantasy. It wouldn't do anybody any good to do nothing but dwell on the past, after all.

The only real excuse you have to do that is visiting a cemetery. At least then people won't judge you for reminiscing about the "good old days" and such, because that's to be expected in a somber place like that.

Personally, I felt like I had set foot in this cemetery more often than any one person should have or want to. Most people would only come out of obligation, but I always felt a strong desire to visit this place frequently, to honor all the loved ones that I had lost over the years. It only felt right, after all, even though they were no longer of Earth Land, to take some time out of my day to let them know that I haven't forgotten about them. Ever since finding out about my father's death after my seven-year absence, I had always made a point to come out and visit my parents' resting places—because let's face it; I hadn't exactly been an exemplary daughter to them while they were still alive. So I would visit them whenever I had the time, to leave them flowers and all sorts of gifts while telling them about what had been going on in their absence. It might sound silly to you, but it genuinely helped me feel better about my situation.

For years, that had been my routine…until three years ago, when I lost more of my loved ones, and graves were eventually erected in their memory once things had settled down. After that, I'd been spending even more time in the cemetery than I had before, visiting and speaking with them after seeing my parents. Happy had started accompanying me on my visits, too, which—I will freely admit now—made me feel a whole lot less alone on those visits.

After visiting my mother and father and doing the usual spiel, I moved on to one of the larger graves—a huge pedestal, easily over ten feet high, with an enormous Fairy Tail symbol emblazoned on each of its four sides and one of his long-time adages, _The man who began guiding countless lights into tomorrow_, carved into the bronze plaque on its front. This was Master Makarov's grave—he had been the first of the Fairy Tail members to lose their lives in what the people of Fiore had eventually come to know as the Festival of Flames.

It had been extremely difficult for me to accept that our guildmaster was gone, and it took me nearly a year to realize that this was how our guild was going to stay. He had been like a surrogate father to all of us younger members at Fairy Tail and had treated us like we were his own. The reigning authority figure of our guild was gone now, but Laxus was doing more than a good job of keeping us together and leading us in his stead. We had all unanimously voted him to be the new guildmaster once we had regrouped, and that was all she wrote. I knew that somewhere up there, Master Makarov was looking down at his grandson in approval and pride.

After leaving our gifts of flowers and fish (which I still thought was strange, but I'd been unable to talk Happy out of giving fish as gifts) and paying our respects to our Master, the two of us made our way to our final stop—and the resting place of the second and last member of our guild to lose their lives.

This last grave didn't look like anything special. It was the same three-by-four bronze-on-concrete plaque as the rest of the nondescript graves, but instead of a name and birth and death date (no one knew either of them), or even any sort of adage, all that had been etched into the bronze was a stylized dragon head whose snout had faded slightly from all the times that I'd stroked it.

This was Natsu's grave.

…Then again, calling this his "resting place" was more out of homage and remembrance than actual truth. Natsu wasn't actually buried here—his body had vanished into thin air right after his death, and no one had been able to recover it. So in the end, we weren't able to give him a proper burial, but we figured that it was the thought that counted more than anything, so we had a grave built anyway.

I always visited Natsu's gravestone last on my visits. While I had managed to accept my parents' passing and eventually the Master's (though with a little effort), I still wasn't quite ready to face the fact that Natsu was actually gone yet. He had always been such a constant in my life from the moment I'd met him that even now, three years later, I still expected to see him invading my home as usual every now and again and telling me how silly I was to believe that he was actually gone.

But of course, no such luck—and the reality would hit me harder each time. That was why he was always my last stop—it was the moment that I didn't feel the need to keep myself composed throughout the visit. I cried every visit without fail, though the degree of it varied upon the day, because I knew that no one but Happy would see me cry, and he wouldn't judge me for it like he used to.

Today was no exception. The tears started slipping down my cheeks even as I knelt and rested my hands on the bronze plaque.

Happy took hold of the hem of my skirt with a melancholy, "Lucy…" at the sight of my breaking down, his own voice hoarse.

I wiped my tears away with my sleeve. "Sorry, Happy…I know what you want to say…" I managed a smile. "Don't worry; I still remember what he told us. He told us not to cry for him."

Happy nodded.

"It's just…" My voice cracked in spite of myself. "…really hard, you know? I always promise myself I won't cry every time, but…it still happens…!"

Happy then leapt into my arms without warning and buried his face in my chest, his own sobbing muffled. I was startled—Happy hadn't done that since the funeral.

"…No more…crying…!" he hiccupped into my jacket. "No more…Natsu…Natsu's gonna be sad, Lucy…we can't cry…!"

My breath caught. I couldn't find the words to say. All I could do for a while was return his embrace, trying desperately to ignore the painful pressure in my throat.

Most people probably would have gotten over the death of a loved one by this point to the degree that they wouldn't break down just by visiting their grave. It probably depends on the person—both the one who mourns and the one he or she goes to mourn. I'd long since gotten over my parents' passing, but this…it wasn't the same. I knew that this wasn't healthy or normal behavior, but for some reason, I would always break down in front of Natsu's grave without fail, no matter how much time had passed since I'd first started the routine of visiting the church.

Eventually, though, the episode passed like it usually did. My tears slowed, and my throat and eyes slowly cleared up. I set Happy back down onto the ground gently and wiped away the tears with my sleeve.

"Are you okay now, Lucy?" Happy asked me quietly, drying his own eyes as he did so.

It was still a minute before I could speak clearly, though. I cleared my throat and managed, "Yeah…better. Thanks, Happy."

"Lucy!"

The two of us started and turned at the sound of the new voice and saw that Wendy and Carla had arrived on the scene, presumably after completing a job. Wendy was clutching a paper bag in her arms as she approached me urgently.

"Thank goodness we found you!" she cried breathlessly.

"Wendy, is something the problem?" I asked, mildly concerned. "You look exhausted!"

"I'm fine, but—oh, never mind that—please, come with me, Lucy; it's urgent—!"

Wendy grabbed my arm and started dragging me away before I could ask her any questions, leading me out of the church grounds and leaving Happy to frantically chase after me on his wings crying, "Don't kidnap Lucy, Wendy!" as he did.

"Hurry up, tomcat; we haven't time to waste!" Carla commanded over her shoulder as she flew alongside Wendy.

"H-hey, wait!" I protested as I stumbled along, trying to keep up (Wendy had grown quite a bit in the last three years, so I managed to keep a straight posture). "Wendy, what's going on? Where are we going?"

"The train station!" She kept moving forward briskly, keeping her eyes straight ahead. "We're going to Tully Village—I promise I'll explain everything on the train!"

"What—?" I felt incredibly nervous at Wendy's strange behavior. She was never one to act like this. What could have happened?

* * *

The first thing Wendy did once the train started moving was to apologize.

"I'm really sorry, Lucy," she said, wringing her hands together on her lap while staring down at her feet. The brown package was still in her arms; she hadn't let go of it this entire time. "I didn't mean to drag you away like that; I just—"

"No, don't worry about it," I assured her hastily. "Just tell me what's going on. What's the rush? And why are we going to Tully Village?"

She raised her gaze to meet mine, still somewhat abashed. "You see, I…Carla and I just came back from Tully Village after finishing a job," she finally said. "Right after collecting the reward for it."

I blinked. This didn't sound like anything out of the ordinary. "And?" I prompted, my gaze straying to the paper bag still in her arms. "Does it have something to do with that bag you've got there?"

Wendy visibly hesitated at my question before she finally answered, "Y-yes." She fingered to top of the bag gingerly, like its contents bothered her somehow. "This…this is the reward we got for the job."

Happy leaned forward in curiosity. "What did you get, Wendy?"

To my surprise, Wendy abruptly shoved the bag right into my lap without answering him and scooted herself against the back of her seat, shutting her eyes and biting her lip as she did so.

Carla looked at me sympathetically in response to Wendy's gesture. "I think it's best if you looked for yourself, Lucy," she said to me.

"O-oh, okay…" I looked from Wendy to the bag in my lap a couple times before moving my hands to open it. Whatever was in this bag, it wasn't anything all that heavy—it almost felt like a cloth. I parted the mouth of the bag and reached inside—my fingers found some rough, thick fabric—but I couldn't tell what it was just my touching it, so I pulled it out—and just about had a coronary when I saw what it was. And I wasn't alone in my shock—Happy's eyes had gone so wide that they probably would've popped out of their sockets if he hadn't managed to blink and rub his eyes in disbelief.

"W-Wendy—" I stammered, hardly able to get the words out, "—where did you—h-how—?!"

Wendy didn't answer at first, but I could barely keep my attention on her because I couldn't take my eyes off of it. No matter how much I stared at it, I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

She had somehow gotten a hold of Natsu's scarf.

* * *

It was a while before I could calm down enough to set the scarf aside (prompting Happy to leap onto it like it was a long-lost cushion) and properly ask Wendy where she'd gotten it—because I was pretty sure that this had disappeared along with Natsu three years ago.

"Wendy…who did you get this from?" I asked shakily. "Where did _they_ get it from? I never thought that I'd…" _I never thought I'd ever see this scarf again…_

Wendy bit her lip. "I—I don't know," she confessed. "I only looked inside the bag while I was on the train ride back to Magnolia, so I didn't think to ask the client where she'd gotten it." She wrung her hands. "I couldn't believe it at first, but…there's really no way I could mistake it for anything else. This is definitely Natsu's. It even still has his scent on it."

"But…" I stared back down at the folded-up scarf (or as much as I could see of it while Happy was glomping it), my heart twinging painfully. "…I honestly can't believe it just turned up like this in some stranger's hands…where could she have gotten it?"

"That's why we're going back to Tully Village," Carla answered matter-of-factly. "We would've gone back right away, but we felt that you should come along—it's only fair, after all."

"I—I see…"

Wendy shook her head lightly, her eyes troubled. "I just don't know what this could mean. Natsu disappeared right in front of us, didn't he? Everything he had on him vanished, too—even his blood." She shuddered lightly as the word slipped out. "Y-you don't think that maybe—?"

"Child," Carla warned her gently, shooting a worried glance in my direction.

I raised a hand in reassurance. "N-no, don't worry about it." In spite of myself, I could feel my eyes tighten in anticipation. "We can leave the speculating for after we get some answers."

Happy sniffled into the scarf (he'd buried his face in it by this point) and whimpered in a muffled voice, "It…still smells like him…" He sniffed again. "Natsu…" His tiny body shook as he cried into it.

I patted his head, a sad smile turning up my lips as I continued to watch him snivel into the scarf. He didn't always look it (in some ways, he could hide it better than I could), but he definitely missed Natsu, too—Natsu had raised him from an egg, after all. They'd known each other their whole lives—my grief was practically nothing compared to his.

_WE ARE NOW ARRIVING AT TULLY VILLAGE STATION_,the train's intercom suddenly blared, making the lot of us jump. _PLEASE GATHER YOUR BELONGINGS AND PREPARE FOR ARRIVAL. THANK YOU FOR RIDING WITH US TODAY._

Wendy stared up at the speakers attached to the ceiling. "We're already here…"

I stood up as the train slowed to a stop, slinging my bag over my shoulder and lifting Happy (still clutching the scarf) into my arms. Wendy and Carla followed my example, and the four of us moved toward the exits.

I looked to Wendy and said, "Lead the way, Wendy."

She nodded determinedly. "Okay."

I smiled at her in gratitude and continued on, staring straight ahead. It was time to get some answers.

* * *

The house we were looking for was relatively close to the station, so it didn't take too long to get there. The streets were busy with merchants and shoppers, but not too crowded that we couldn't navigate our way through it to our destination.

When we reached the house, I saw that it looked more like a small cottage than a full-sized house—it was quaint in appearance, kind of like the countryside homes that you would see in the illustration of children's books. There were a couple clotheslines off to the left that was air-drying some bedsheets and clothing. They were still dripping with water, so they were probably washed very recently.

Before we could go to the front door to knock, a young raven-haired woman wearing a brown corduroy dress and white apron emerged from around the house and caught sight of us. Recognition lit up her eyes when she noticed Wendy.

"Oh, hello!" she greeted us, approaching us with a smile. "So we meet again, Miss Wendy! Thank you again for your help today—decent handmaids are so difficult to come by nowadays!"

Wendy immediately blushed and shook her head. "N-no, it was no problem at all! And please, you can just call me Wendy."

The woman laughed. "Of course, if you insist." She then turned to me and asked, "Oh, hello. Are you a friend of Miss Wendy's?"

"Oh, y-yes," I answered after a pause and bowing my head slightly. "My name is Lucy. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"No, no; the pleasure is all mine." She then looked between the two of us before turning her attention to Wendy again. "So what brings you back so soon? Was there something wrong with the reward? I'm sorry that I couldn't offer you anything else; it was the only thing I had that I could pay you with."

"No, it's all right," Wendy assured her, waving her down. "There's nothing wrong with the reward. But we did come here to ask you about it."

The woman tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Oh?"

"Yes," I interrupted, hoping I wasn't speaking out of turn. "You see, this scarf belonged to a friend of ours that—that went missing, and we were wondering where you'd gotten it."

"Is that so?" She rested her chin in her hand in contemplation. "That is certainly odd. I was wondering where my son had found it…"

I blinked. "Your son?" I asked urgently. "So you're saying that he found it somewhere?"

"Yes, dear. And he was insistent on giving it to Miss Wendy as the reward—going on and on about getting someone to help him find out who it belongs to, or some such. I really couldn't make much sense of it."

My heart raced at the bit of information. "I'm sorry, but may we speak with him?" I asked hurriedly.

"Of course," she said, turning to the front door. "Please, come in. He should be right inside."

* * *

Sure enough, there was a little boy that looked about seven or eight years old reading a storybook on one of two cots in the back corner of the cottage. He had dark hair just like his mother's. He looked up at the sound of people coming in, and his eyes lit up. He immediately set the book down onto the cot and hopped off before making a mad dash toward his mother.

"Hi, Mommy!" he greeted her enthusiastically, leaping into her arms. "Guess what; guess what—I read my storybook three times today!"

"Well, now; aren't you a big boy!" She then turned and gestured to us. "Look, Wendy came back to visit—and she brought a friend. Go on and say hello to her and introduce yourself, okay? Mommy is going to brew tea for our guests."

The little boy nodded. "Okay." He then approached me without any hesitation and stuck out his little hand to shake as his mother went inside.

"Hi, nice to meet you," he said, smiling brightly. "My name is Joey!"

I was a bit taken aback by his openness, so I didn't respond right away—this melted his smile into a puzzled expression.

"Are you okay?" he asked, frowning in confusion.

"Y-yeah, sorry about that." I shook my head lightly. _Get it together, Lucy. Act natural._ I knelt down to his level. "So…you said your name is Joey?"

He nodded vigorously. "Yep!"

"Right, I won't forget it," I said, managing a smile. "As for me, I'm Lucy. And I came here to ask you a couple questions about the reward you gave to my friend."

Joey blinked once before his eyes widened in excitement. "You mean about the pretty scarf?" he prompted eagerly.

_Pretty? _"Yeah, that's right. Your mommy said that you…found it somewhere…?"

He started to shake his head even before I finished my sentence, his eyes still wide and knowing.

"Nope," he said. "I didn't find it. Somebody gave it to me!"

My breath caught. Wendy and I exchanged glances at his response, and I could see the shock in her eyes just as well as I felt it at that moment—finding the scarf just lying around somewhere was one thing, but…someone had actually _given_ this to him? Who could it have been? I remembered Happy telling me that the scarf was very important to Natsu, since he'd gotten it from Igneel—and ever since his death, Natsu would've been much less likely to even _lose track_ of the scarf, much less give it away to someone he didn't know.

Of course, I was thinking in terms of how Natsu would act if he was somehow still alive and wandering around somewhere, but that really couldn't be the case here…unless it was, but that was really unlikely.

I fought to maintain the smile I was wearing as to avoid making the boy nervous. "Someone gave it to you?" I asked, trying and failing to reduce the amount of tension in my tone. "Do you know who that person was?"

He shook his head. "No," he said, sounding despondent (I couldn't help but internally wish him comfort when I saw how disappointed he looked). "I don't know…but I remember that he was really nice."

"R-really?" I could feel my skin grow clammy with sweat and my chest tighten with some anxiety that I couldn't explain to myself. "What did this nice person look like?"

"He was tall," Joey answered immediately, sounding determined to give me satisfactory answers this time. "And he was really dirty. He was wearing a big red hood, so I couldn't see his face very good. And—and I think he's super strong, too, 'cause—'cause he had lots and lots of boo-boos, but he wasn't crying!"

He paused to catch his breath here, which gave me time to attempt and digest this information. Tall, dirty, wearing a red hood, and multiple injuries…I couldn't really connect much of that to anyone I knew.

"…I see…" I cleared my throat and addressed him in earnest. "So, how did you meet him?"

Here Joey's face slipped into something that I could only call a nervous pout. "I saw him last week," he said. "I was playing near the forest right outside the village while Mommy was working, but—then it got dark, and—and then I got lost." He then wrapped his arms around himself. "I got scared because it was super dark and really cold…and I started crying…and that's when the nice man found me. He asked me why I was crying, and I told him that I wanted to go home." The boy then rested a hand on his neck as a jubilant smile parted his lips as he kept talking. "Then he took off his scarf and put it around my neck and said that it would keep me warm—and then he said I could keep it!" He smiled wider at the memory. "And then he said he would take me back home to Mommy—and he did! I wanted to tell him thank you, because that's what Mommy said to do when somebody helps you—and I wanted to give him the scarf back because I didn't need to wear it anymore." His face slipped into a pout again—more disappointed this time. "But I couldn't, because he was already gone. He went away right after he helped me come home."

I was already having a hard time keeping myself composed throughout this conversation, but what this boy was saying was pretty much driving some kind of invisible stake through my heart. A myriad of emotions was fighting for dominance within its confines, and I couldn't get a hold of why I was feeling so jumbled. There was really no reason for me to be.

"And that's why I wanted Mommy to give this scarf as a reward for helping them!" he finished up, balling up his little hands into fists in determination. "I want somebody to help me find that nice man and give the scarf back to him and tell him thank you!"

I could tell that the boy was done with his story, because he was waiting expectantly for my response.

To my surprise, I found myself smiling.

"Well," I said at last, much to everyone's confusion, "it looks like you were lucky that we were the ones that took the job."

Joey's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

I rumpled his already-messy head of hair as I replied, "Don't you worry. We'll make sure that this scarf gets back to him. Once we do, you'll be the first to know."

The boy's face lit up in a grin of delight. "Thanks!" he said happily.

I rose to my feet just as the woman returned, carrying a tray of a teapot with three teacups.

"Oh, are you leaving already?" she asked in surprise. "Did you find out what you needed to know?"

"Yes, thank you," Wendy said as she bowed apologetically, looking abashed. "I'm sorry; you went to the trouble of making us tea and we…"

"No, no; it's all right. If you must go, I shouldn't keep you." She smiled in a friendly way. "Do come back and visit again once you find the owner of that scarf. Joey has been quite lonely without his father."

A spasm of guilt shot through my chest at her words. _Another innocent victim of Death's senseless rampage back then…_ "We will."

A sudden commotion outside the doors interrupted our conversation. All of us started and faced the door.

"What's going on out there?" I wondered.

"Let's go take a look," Wendy suggested, already moving to open the door. "Ma'am, thank you for your help! Please stay inside; it might be dangerous!"

The woman nodded, holding her son close. "Of course. You girls be safe out there!"

We nodded and immediately headed out. At first, it didn't look too bad, but then we saw that a bunch of townspeople were gathering at the far northwestern edge, a forested area a fair distance from the town.

"Is there something going on over there?" Wendy wondered.

"Maybe we should go take a look," I said, a knot of worry forming in my stomach. "I feel like we've caused Fiore too much trouble already, so let's go see what the problem is."

"Good point," Carla said, who had since left Wendy's arms and was walking beside her. "And we might as well, since we're already here."

The four of us agreed and made our way to the ever-growing crowd. The people looked alarmed, worried, angry, outright afraid. It sounded like they were cursing at something that we couldn't see, judging from the clamor.

Happy scanned the crowd, still clutching the scarf, sounding nervous as he whispered, "What are they so mad about?"

I caught the attention of one of the villagers as he was passing by. "Excuse me, but do you know what's happening on the other side?"

The villager looked put-upon as he turned to face me. "You mean you don't know about the circles of blood?" he asked in incredulity. "One of them just showed up! Right outside the village!"

A cold wave washed over me. "C…circles of blood?"

"They've been popping up all over Fiore for several years, ever since the whole Festival of Flames incident. Usually out in remote areas, though—no one's ever heard of one getting this close to any sort of town or city before." He raised an eyebrow as he went on his way. "You must've been living under a rock if you didn't know that."

I could feel Wendy freeze up next to me—her fear was palpable. Ever since the day that Natsu had disappeared before our eyes, Wendy started getting panic attacks at even the mere mention of blood, which I couldn't really blame her for. Seeing your brother figure murdering your father figure so brutally that his blood completely drenches you can really stick with you, not even mentioning having to watch said brother figure bleed out and vanish like some ghost because you were unable to save him.

"Wendy…if you like, you can stay back here with Carla," I advised. "I can go take a look by myself."

I half-expected her to refuse and come with me, but she just nodded and shrunk back slightly, her face white in fear. Carla looked on in concern.

"Don't worry, Lucy; I'll stay by her side," she assured me. "Go on. We'll wait for you here."

"Thanks, Carla." I turned to Happy. "You're welcome to stay behind with them if you want to, Happy."

Happy shook his head defiantly. "No," he said. "I'm going with you, Lucy."

I hesitated for a moment. "Well…if you're sure," I said nervously. "Let's go, then."

We carefully picked our way through the crowd, mumbling apologies as we went, until we reached the front—and we were met with a horrifying sight.

When that villager had called this a "circle of blood", I could see now that it was no metaphor. It was _literally_ a circle of blood— a nearly ten-foot diameter stain of it right on the floor of the forest clearing, as if someone had taken a giant bucket of it and dumped and spread its contents into a messy puddle.

"Lucy!" Happy whispered, tugging at my boot and pointing at the edge of the circle. "Look over there! Those are burn marks!"

"What?" I looked where he was pointing more carefully, and I could see that he was right—right around the perimeter of the enormous blots of blood, there was a charred outline of a perfect circle, cleanly encompassing the dried blood.

As much as the sight sickened me, my mind went into overdrive at what I was observing. This phenomenon seemed too deliberate to have been a natural occurrence. A perfect circle charred into the ground, neatly enclosing a large puddle of blood…if something like this had been showing up all over Fiore, then someone had to be behind it…but I had no idea who it could be.

"Hey…doesn't this one seem a bit bigger than the ones we usually hear about?" I heard one of the villagers mutter behind me.

"Yeah, you've got a point," another replied in a worried tone. "And this one doesn't have a red salamander anywhere on it. That's what stands out the most in a lot of these circles, isn't it? It's the mark of that crazy cult!"

"Then this one might be the real deal!" a third gulped. "The one behind the Festival of Flames must've been here in person!"

"Don't be ridiculous," a fourth snapped. "How do you expect a dead man to do anything?"

Panicked conversations swept through the crowd at the suggestion while my mind was still struggling to take in and organize all the details I was being bombarded with. Circle of blood, larger than the others reported, a red salamander that was the mark of some "crazy cult"…so most of these circles weren't even authentic and had been fabricated by this cult, and this one was a "genuine" circle of blood?

What was this cult? This was the first time I'd ever even heard of one going around and vandalizing the land with scorched circles surrounding puddles of blood. By all appearances, whoever they were, they were "worshiping" the one who actually created these horrid things.

And against all reason, the only suspect that came to my mind as of this moment was Natsu. I mean, I sure hadn't heard of anyone else that was deeply involved in this Festival of Flames debacle besides Natsu, myself, and…while a bit on the extreme side, I knew that Jellal wouldn't do something like this, and I definitely didn't do this. I was also pretty sure that Life ceased to exist when Natsu died, and I'd seen Death break apart into dust and disappear right before my eyes.

But Natsu's case made no sense, either. Even if he was somehow still alive and wandering around Fiore considering the unusual manner of his death, why would he go around scorching the land and spilling copious amounts of blood wherever he went? Where did this blood even come from? Was it his? Someone else's? This completely went against everything that I believed that Natsu had stood for. This didn't seem like something he would do.

Of course, all this looped around to the scarf Wendy had gotten from that woman and her son. Both Wendy Happy had clearly identified it as Natsu's and not as some cheap double—and I had no reason to doubt their judgment. That was a variable in this equation that we couldn't rule out, but could find no place for. I couldn't rule out that boy's story, either—this matched the description that he'd given of the location he'd gotten lost in before he was found by this mysterious man that had given him the scarf. Did this person possibly have something to do with this circle? It was really frustrating wracking my brain and trying to figure this out.

"…Lucy? Lucy, are you okay?"

I snapped out of my thoughts and turned my attention to Happy, who'd been trying to get my attention. His expression was a mix of worry and confusion. "What's wrong, Lucy?" he prompted me.

"Oh…nothing," I said quickly, brushing stray hair out of my face. "I was just thinking."

Happy blinked. "Thinking…?"

"…Yeah." I glanced at him pointedly before turning around to leave. "Happy, let's get back to Wendy and Carla. We're going back to the guild. There's something I need to tell everyone."

"What?" Happy scurried to catch up with me. "What do you need to tell them?"

"Something crazy." I could feel my chest threatening to burst with some wayward emotion, but I couldn't figure out what it was—maybe excitement, maybe hope, or perhaps desperation—but it was driving me forward all the same.

I bit my lip. "Happy…I know this sounds like it's impossible, but I feel that…Natsu might be still alive somewhere."

* * *

_Obvious foreshadowing is obvious; I know. Shut up. *shot*_

_Hahaha…oh, man; I love Lucy. I really do. She's so easy to write that it's a crime. To think that she was what worried me the most about this sequel…silly me. She wasn't the problem…the plot was the problem. =_= I think I'll start getting the hang of this story once Natsu shows up again, because most of the brainstorming I have for this story is of him and of him running into Lucy again and all the possible and horrible and beautiful and heartbreaking angsty moments that I have planned for the two of them and everybody else involved and agh I just can't handle this anymore you guys DX_

_I'll be blunt—I don't like this chapter. Why? Because I'm still trying to organize the premise of the story in this one, and it feels super flimsy and awkward. But now that I have this out of the way, the next chapters will be a little easier than this one. At least, I hope so._

_You are all awesome for taking time out of your day to read this, and I'm super grateful, even if you don't leave reviews. Until next time!_


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